There is so much in the world that is not okay right now.  There is so much that induces rage and fear both locally and globally that we can easily fall prey to believing in hopelessness.  

 

My news and social media feeds are full of the atrocities of the genocide in Gaza and the rallying cry to Free Palestine 🍉.  I know less about the genocides in the Sudan and Congo but they are also ever present and need our attention.   I am choosing to notice how these messages keep getting through to me which means they must be reaching many others, including the people in governments who claim to represent us.  This matters.  

 

The other day I heard a quote on a podcast (Hidden Brain with Shankar Vedantam).  His guest Jamil Zaki was speaking about the impact of hope and trust: 

 

“I think that hope can be a feeling that actually inspires us to challenge these structures, to challenge the forces in our culture that are doing harm. I think of hope as a fiery and often radical emotion, something that is not saying, this is fine in a room that’s on fire, but rather saying, this room is on fire, we can put it out.”

 

From Hidden Brain: You 2.0: Fighting Despair, Sep 16, 2024

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With that in mind here is a sampling of the many accounts I am following on Instagram with the hope that their messages will reach you and we can all keep demanding an end to the genocide of the people of Palestine.  Write to the people who represent you and let them know your views.  Killing (or funding the killing) of innocent people can never be the answer to our problems in any nation in the world.  

 

@wizard_bisan1

@palsolidaritycad

@ahmedeldin

@docsubeh

@oncanadaproject

@theslowfactory

@jewishvoiceforpeace

@wearthepeace

@afeefness

@difficult.conversations.lab

@thestressdoc

@malaksaddy

@mar._unfiltered

@cjpmeofficial

@mosah_abutoha

@yesimhotinthis

@ijeomaoluo

@premthakk

 

I am aware this is an incomplete list – if you have any recommendations (of accounts or websites), please share in the comments.

 

May we all be free and safe.