Notes from March 2025/5785

I wanted to write to you sooner, but I have been in the eternal-feeling struggle of finding the words to express the nuanced pain of this particular moment, with a sneaking suspicion that what has already been said is more than adequate. It’s hard to start a newsletter when the onslaught of news seems ever-overwhelming, and more overwhelming than ever. 

While the current administration purposefully destroys government systems, I see the continued fraying of systems that began in the first year of COVID, five years ago. These systems that were never built to work for everyone, but to benefit a billionaire few. From the prison industrial complex to the nonprofit industrial complex to the healthcare industrial complex, there is a crumbling. It seems when systems fail or fall, those most on the margins bear the brunt of the violence. My hope is that, as historically holds true, that the violence will only strengthen our creativity, our tenacity, and our alliances. 

What hope is there to be had when it seems that fascism grows bigger and louder? I want to believe that in the arc of history justice is winning, but first we have to live through this last gasp of white supremacist capitalist imperialist patriarchy. I sometimes do not believe that and instead feel the sinking of hopelessness. But the strength of Palestinians remaining on their land, immigrants being targeted by ICE, people homeless on our streets, trans youth in hateful situations, people seeking abortions in restrictive states. Their ability to hope is testament that we will find a way, we are finding ways through.