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Finding Courage During Challenging Times
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Check out my op-ed “Finding Courage During Challenging Times” published by PRsay and pasted below.

In a blog post published last month, PRSA’s Los Angeles Chapter President Marisol Barrios Perez, APR, wrote, “I urge our PR community to do what we do best: Raise our voices. Because when we speak together — with purpose, with clarity and with courage — we shape the narrative. And we stand on the right side of history.”

Indeed, these are unprecedented times that call for unprecedented measures. Just a glimpse at the last six months in Los Angeles, where I live, is telling. January started with the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in the state’s history. In early June, the president sent the National Guard and Marines to our streets, exchanging insults and accusations with California Gov. Newsom in the process. With a softening job market, an uncertain economy and a fragile geopolitical climate, it’s enough to make you want to hide under the covers and wait for calmer days.

And yet, as Barrios Perez reminds us, we are the truth tellers. From standing up to reverse the climate crisis to speaking out against authoritarian regimes, now’s the time for us to act courageously.

But what does “courage” even entail, and how can we invoke it within ourselves and each other? Here are a few ideas I find helpful when trying to act courageously.

Courage is within you — and eager to be unleashed.

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#ceasefireforgazanow and forever 🍉🍉🍉
@cabotcove.bg STOP BOMBING GAZA STOP OCCUPATION Picture of a woman wearing a red hijab with her right fist in the air.

If the US president thinks we have $105 billion to fuel another forever war, then we can find at least 105 billion ways to stop it. Here are some resources for being part of the movements calling for a #ceasefireforgazanow and to #freepalestine.

Last updated Dec. 3, 2023

Contact every day all these lost politicos who aren’t listening

So annoying that they’re not listening, but make emailing them part of your daily routine, like brushing your teeth. Unfortunately, you have to give your name, address, phone number and email, and oddly your “prefix,” but on many of the sites remember it for the following day.

If you’re undocumented or part of a targeted group and don’t want to give the government all of your deets, then call instead of emailing. Don’t be surprised if they don’t pick up or voicemails are full or non-functioning. So we have $ for war but not to staff offices?

Follow the Palestinian Feminist Collective

Download the All Out for Palestine Digital Toolkit and share it with your networks online and in real life.

Join us at the LA Times Festival of Books!

LA times logo

I’m thrilled to be speaking at the LA Times Festival of Books! The panel, entitled “Feminisms in Motion: Intersectional Voices for Social Change,” will take place Saturday, April 13, from noon–1 p.m., at USC. Attendance will require a ticket, which you can get the day of on-site for free, or as of April 7 for $1 online. The festival is an amazing gathering of book writers and book lovers. 

Here are more details about the panel and the whole weekend event schedule.

And a glimpse of our panel:

la times festival of books

I hope you can join us!

Feminisms in Motion Debuts Oct. 9

Feminisms in Motion

Remember when Jess, Daria and I started the intersectional feminist magazine make/shift in 2007? The mag. was published for 10 years and the new anthology Feminisms in Motion: Voices for Justice, Liberation, and Transformation is a collection of some key pieces written by the “most inspiring feminist writers of the decade,” including yours truly! My essay and book review “Bathing Beneath the Lebanese Sky” is included in this stunning book. 

Angela Davis has said this about the new anthology: “This wide-ranging collection of extraordinary writings—drawn from a decade of the important work of make/shift magazine to document feminist cultures and organizing strategies—offers a snapshot of ten years of incisive political and cultural analysis centering the work of women of color artists and activists. In the contemporary political moment, when there is such urgency to act, these writers insist that we consistently critique our analyses and approaches, and remind us how vitally important explicitly intersectional, multi-issue organizing strategies are to the success of our movements. Feminisms in Motion provides both a historical record of significant antiracist feminist interventions and a roadmap for moving us in the direction of freedom and justice.”

Buy your copy today! You can preorder now at 25% off the list price ($15 instead of $20) and they’ll ship it to you in early October. Stay tuned for details of a release party on Oct. 20 in L.A.