Dearest Community,
Oppression thrives on pitting marginalized people against each other.
Asian Americans are told to vilify Black Americans.
The white working class is told to hate immigrants.
Cis women are told to fear trans and nonbinary people.
In the name of safety, our fears become weapons and our traumas turn into cages. It’s devastating, and painfully effective. Before we know it, we are threatened by the very tools we thought would protect us: more prisons, fewer rights. More surveillance, less freedom.
This pattern has repeated throughout history, deepening the chasm and mistrust between marginalized communities while empowering those who benefit from our isolation. It has threatened our ability to mobilize together and connect our struggles. It has birthed harmful policies and ignited wars. And it is happening before our very eyes today.
Oppression seldom arrives without a moral alibi. ICE raids terrorize our neighborhoods under the banner of “law and order.” Just this week, the Supreme Court effectively legalized racial profiling, further endangering Black and brown communities already under siege. The genocide in Palestine is framed as a fight for “Jewish safety,” while universities punish anti-genocide student protesters under the blanket charge of antisemitism. And a wave of anti-trans bills sweeps the country, stripping trans people of basic health care and civil rights.
Violence against the oppressed is legitimized by fear, carefully constructed through relentless priming: media outlets wielding biased language, courts criminalizing dissent, and institutions granting impunity to those orchestrating oppression.
In this time of overlapping traumas and crises, we need clarity and discernment more than ever. We need to insist on precision—both in our language and whom we hold to account. We need to take risks that challenge our comfort and use our privileges to protect the safety of the most marginalized. We need to build our capacity to prioritize community and solidarity, more than our instinctive need for self-preservation. And we desperately need to choose to heal, so that our traumas don’t become weaponized as yet another tool of oppression.
How do we tend to our fears so that they don’t become fuel for more harm in the world? How do we deepen our connection to ourselves and each other so that courage can be something we practice, together, even in our darkest hours?
These are the questions I’m sitting with.
Though I don’t always get it right, living with intention has been a balm to my soul and my community. Knowing my everyday choice maps to our collective vision of the world helps me to stay the course.
What resources have helped you to stay grounded? How are you practicing your values these days? Let me know. I’d love to hear from you.
Sending ample strength and solidarity to everyone doing their best right now. Thank you for being here, and staying.
In community,
Michelle
🇵🇸 How To Talk About Palestine: A Mini Guide
Language shapes our perspective, and perspective impacts real life decisions. When talking about violence and oppression—especially in the age of disinformation, propaganda, and repression—being precise with our language is an act of resistance and solidarity. Here are three tips to remember for when you’re talking about what’s happening in Palestine.
Call it what it is: ✅ Genocide vs. ❌ War/Conflict
What is happening in Gaza is a genocide—unequivocally confirmed by historians, genocide scholars, the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and countless activists all over the world. Though the mainstream media has failed to accurately report on this reality for years, it is imperative we do not parrot their language of false equivalence and euphemism. Make no mistake, what is happening is not a war (this creates a false equivalence of power between Israel and Palestine when there is no parity), it is not a conflict (this dilutes the oppressive nature of genocide while masking the intentional violence perpetrated by Israel). What is happening is a genocide.
Name the oppressor and the sources of violence 🧐
Do not let harm exist passively without specific agents. Passively calling for a ceasefire while failing to address the perpetrators of genocide masks the root causes of this grave violence. Using vague language like “crisis” (vs. genocide), “20 Palestinians died” (vs. 20 Palestinians were killed by Israeli snipers) or “famine” (vs. forced starvation) without assigning accountability to specific agents of harm obscures the problem we’re trying to solve, while distracting from the ultimate goal of the Palestinian liberation movement: to end the genocide and Israel’s colonial occupation of Palestine. Practice clearly naming the oppressor and the sources of violence: Israel is committing genocide. The United States is funding and arming Israel. White supremacy, racial capitalism, imperialism, and settler-colonialism are intertwined and present at the root of this genocide.
Don’t conflate anti-Zionism with antisemitism 🙅🏻♀️
Zionism is a nationalist ideology that has been used to justify the oppression of Palestinians for decades. Unfortunately, there has been a deliberate and concerted effort to conflate anti-Zionism with antisemitism, which has caused many to shy away from loudly condemning the genocide. Many Jewish activists and scholars have been desperately imploring people to untangle these two vastly disparate ideas, clearly delineating that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism. They explain that Zionism weaponizes antisemitism, harming both Palestinians and Jewish people—albeit on vastly different scales. Unequivocally condemn the genocide and speak up for a free Palestine knowing full well it is consistent with our values for racial justice and anti-oppression. Still feeling uncomfortable and want to learn more? Here’s a great set of educational resources on this topic.
Lastly, and most importantly…
Keep speaking.
You may not have the perfect words. You will make mistakes and maybe even get called out. But don’t let that deter you from loudly opposing genocide. Though the tide seems to have turned, with more than 60% of US voters opposing sending arms to Israel, many are still choosing to stay silent out of fear of retaliation. This is understandable and real. And, remember that repression thrives on our collective fear and silence. Keep speaking out, wherever you are, and make it known that you stand with Palestine. People’s lives depend on our courage and action.
But the reason why so many fear polarization caused by the mere use of the most accurate words is precisely because for so long we’ve prioritized artificial harmony over honest tension, and comfortable euphemism over uncomfortable truth telling, constantly adding more layers to obscure these truths. Don’t be afraid to use words that may cause discomfort because of their directness. Directness and honesty are the point.
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Thank You, Readers! 🙏
I’ve been seeing a sudden uptick in signed book requests for book clubs lately and I’m so grateful! You can request signed copies of my book on my website (and you’ll also get these cute I Feel That Way Too stickers 😍!).
Thank you Nadia B. who ordered a bunch of signed copies of The Wake Up for the book club!!
Grateful for your continued support for my work, including The Wake Up ❤
Recent Interviews & Public Talks 🎤
SF Human Rights Summit: A Live Recording
The PoliticsGirl Podcast: I Feel That Way Too!: A Conversation with Michelle MiJung Kim
Amplify Restorative Justice Podcast: Conversation on Shame, Burnout, and Worthiness w/ Michelle MiJung Kim
The Podcast Newsletter: Tink Media Interview with Michelle MiJung Kim
Mentally? A Magpie: Q&A With Your Queue
❤️ On My Radar & Heart:
This video of Italian dockworkers standing in solidarity with the Gaza Freedom Flotilla mission filled me with hope and courage.
Have you heard of “Collective Emotions?” I hadn’t until this Proxy episode, How to Cope with Now, which spoke directly to my soul this week!
Totally frivolous (or maybe not), but this is my current favorite moisturizer. It’s acne-safe and BDS-safe. Plus it’s made by an Asian American woman chemist!
Access to All, Sustained by Community.
As sources of insight and information become increasingly decentralized, I’ve watched many people begin to rightfully place their intellectual labor behind paywalls. My philosophy has always been this: share knowledge and inspiration freely and widely, and be compensated for private access to my time. That’s why this newsletter and my podcast are—and will remain—free for as long as I can sustain them. Your voluntary monthly support helps me to keep doing this. Please consider becoming a financial supporter if you have the means—your contributions help keep this space open and accessible to everyone. Thank you!
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