If you’re reading this, chances are you already know, but if for some reason you don’t- there are multiple genocides happening the moment I am writing this and the moment you’re reading this. Top of my mind and the minds of most is Palestine, but the crises and genocides occurring in Sudan, the Congo, Tigray, against the Uyghurs in China are co-occuring. None of this is new, unfortunately, but a rising consciousness of the magnitude of human suffering perpetuated by and for the service of power and how it’s truly connected is new. It’s a fragile thing, and the tangled web at the heart of it lies our tax dollars, consumerism, individualism, and settler-colonial structures designed to make the most profit.

I have been aware of some of this for some time now, but the horrors of what has happened and is happening to the Palestinian people has completely tore my heart and mind open. Unfortunately complacency is easy and too many of us have fallen prey to it time and time again. I’m afraid it will happen again.

I remember when the Occupy Wallstreet movement hit its peak right when I started my undergraduate studies. The retrospective suggests a lack of cohesion, inconsistent demands, and an overwhelmingly white representation. It lacked intersectionality and ultimately failed.

What I fear the most is that despite all best efforts, even with the intersectionality of this movement, we will fail due to the extreme measures our government has undertaken to silence those demanding a ceasefire.

This will not stop me, nor will I let my fears discourage me. When I first became educated I made a promise. I think it’s best shown in a poem I wrote on October 16th entitled “Witness”. I shared it on TikTok & included videos of what was happening in Gaza at the time: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8xDbRp1/

“Witness”

10/16/23

I saw on the news today

Names, faces, stories

From the Israelis who were murdered

I saw the world grieve for them

My own heart, too, feels it

But I wonder who will remember the nameless Palestinians

I look for you everywhere, Gaza

I search across social media

To look into your eyes

And witness

I see your babies dying

Your mother screaming in the street

Because her husband was just killed

I see your goodbyes posted online

As the supply of everything needed to sustain life runs out

I hear your voice as you ask me, brokenly

To not stop talking about you

To remember you

To witness

I promise you I will not forget

Your face will haunt me forever

And I welcome it