What We Do Together Holds Us Together
Why you can trust us
The catastrophic US-Israeli war on Iran is weighing heavily on our minds – in addition to the trail of suffering and tragedy ICE leaves in its wake, the genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, the outrageous lack of accountability following the partial release of Epstein files, and the fear of yet another US regime change operation which looms over Cuba.
There are so many fronts on which organizers are tirelessly working and where activists are constantly mobilizing. While multitasking between antiwar protests and rapid response, to divestment campaigns and survivor advocacy, it can feel like there is not enough time to even breathe.
What can hold us together when capitalism, empire, and fascism are ruthlessly committed to tearing us apart?
Writing for YES! in 2018, Ari Honarvar drew upon her childhood experiences in Iran to reflect on how rituals sustained her community through the darkest hours. These kinds of practices support our deeply human need for belonging and shared meaning, and ground us amid troubling times. Shared rituals may be crucial for holding us together in an era of seemingly permanent crises:
In this age of isolation, we need nourishing and uplifting means of creating community by bringing together members of different generations as our ancestors did. From my experience in Iran, rituals can be particularly valuable during hard times. In the U.S., we don’t have to worry about bombs and food rations, but we still have challenges to our security that affect our mental and physical health. Rituals can help us, though, by offering our communities opportunities for healing and support.
—Ari Honarvar
Read the full article: Why Rituals Are Good for Your Health
From the Archives: Rescuing Ourselves and the Planet From Oil
As airstrikes on oil facilities across Iran produce apocalyptic columns of fire and toxic black rain across Tehran, the terrible war launched by the US and Israel further threatens to raise energy prices to historical levels. The scourge of war should remind us of the curse of oil: Even in the absence of war, our global energy infrastructure threatens to render the planet uninhabitable while enriching the destroyers of earth.
Writing for YES! in 2016, Yessenia Funes described the potential for a just energy transition to produce a safer and more equitable world.
“We know about the effects on the climate of burning oil, gas, and coal for energy, but we don’t know what turning our backs on them will do to our economy. Some worry that closing our oil refineries and shutting down our mines would throw the market into a dangerous vortex. That doesn’t need to be the case. A successful energy transition could actually benefit the economy and reduce inequality,” Funes wrote.
Read the full article: Jobs After Oil: The Path to a Cleaner, More Equal Future
From the Archives: Fighting the Battles That Matter
There’s only one way we will defeat creeping fascism — together. Staying united for the long haul will not be easy; but when conflict arises, we can’t let it pull us apart. In the wake of the Charlottesville killing of Heather Heyer by a white supremacist in August 2017, Kelly Hayes implored organizers to strive to overcome internal divides, resolve interpersonal grievances, and prioritize relationship building.
“United fronts aren’t about unity. They’re about survival. And if we could table some of our angst for the sake of survival, we might just overcome some of our differences in the process — or not,” wrote Hayes. “But you know what? Living to fight another day matters.”
Read the full article: Dear Fellow Lefties: Know Who the Real Enemy Is
New Work by YES! Contributors
- Sarah van Gelder, founding editor of YES!, urges Congress against investing in the expansion of ICE concentration camps.
- Sonali Kolhatkar, former racial justice and civil liberties editor at YES! Magazine and the host of Rising Up With Sonali, reports on recent nurses’ strikes in New York, California, and Hawaii.
- Marianne Dhenin, former contributing writer at YES! Magazine, follows the ongoing struggle to protect pro-Palestine speech in higher ed.
New Solutions Journalism From Independent Media
? In the Fight Against ICE, Kids Are on the Front Lines – In These Times
? A Successful General Strike Requires Trauma-Informed Mutual Aid – Waging Nonviolence
❤️? How Union Bargaining Can Buoy Affordability – The Progressive
?️ As Trump Bombs Iran, We Need to Reckon With the American War Machine – Truthout
Rising Up With Sonali
Rising Up With Sonali, formerly the broadcast arm of YES! Media, is lifting up solutions journalism through hard-hitting interviews. When you subscribe to Rising Up With Sonali, you’ll receive 3-4 interviews a week in your inbox, with full access to video and transcripts of all conversations.
We Must Hold Each Other Together
To navigate these turbulent times, let’s remember to ground ourselves in shared rituals and care. Together we can confront the daunting challenges ahead, and live to fight another day for transformative solutions.
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In solidarity,
t r u t h o u t
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Truthout
hosts a monthly newsletter with relevant content from the YES! digital archives and new solutions journalism from a variety of publications. These curated resources can help us imagine – and build – movements for transformation.
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