🌱 Heart & Humanity — 1 Year Later
Reflecting on the War on Gaza One Year Later
Table of Contents
Welcome Back! 👋🏼
We are nearly one year into the War on Gaza and the aftermath of the October 7th attack. Before kicking into GOTV (get out the vote) season, I wanted to pause to reflect on the past year, the lives lost, and the heart-first way forward. Read on for more...
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Last year, the world shook on October 7th when a terrorist attack surprised Israel and kidnapped and killed hundreds of hostages. Since that moment, Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government along with U.S.-made weapons have assaulted and destroyed the Gaza strip along with tens if not hundreds of thousands of lives including Palestinians, journalists, and even the hostages (some estimated near 400,000). We cannot get back the lives lost from October 7th or the subsequent genocide in Gaza, the West Bank, and now Lebanon. The pain of this loss has lived within us now for one year.
While some may be more conscious to this, we are all experiencing the heaviness of the violent and hateful actions of a few. Before we kick off our final monthly series before the U.S. election in November, I wanted to stop and reflect on the past year through the words I wrote only days after October 7th.
Originally published October 12, 2023
Hi y’all, It’s been a difficult week for most of us. The events occurring in Israel and Palestine are difficult to fully realize. ❤️🩹 My heart has been heavy for the Israelis who were and are being terrorized, the Palestinian people who deserve liberation, and the people around the world seeing and feeling this tragedy. Today, I wanted to offer pieces of writing that remind me to be unafraid to lead with 💚 heart and 🌍 humanity in this moment.
Relating to Conflict
This first piece struck me to my core and happens to be written by my partner. As an embodied relational healer, she writes about conflict more generally, what happens within ourselves when we see conflict arise, and offers questions to get in touch with your relationship to conflict.
“So many of us are longing. Maybe the words help us feel a little less alone, far away. Nothing we say here will free Palestine (and yet, we long for it). Nothing we say will stop the atrocities happening to Israelis and Palestinians alike (and yet, we long for it). All of that is to say, these wounds are some of the deepest, and I’m here with us, feeling the devastation of being human in this moment.”
I hope her words help others to heal in this moment of tragedy and pain. ❤️🩹
On Our Shared Humanity
I want to send a gentle reminder to anyone who wants peace and justice. That dreams of a world where justice comes hand in hand with peace.
“There is an Ubuntu saying, “I am because we are”
When you say hello in Ubuntu, you say “I see you” with the response “I exist.” How profound is that?
You see me and therefore I exist. I exist because you exist.
I wrote this piece a few months back, but it continues to stay with me. I hope it shapes you too.
Sam Chavez
A Final Thought on Liberation
Today I was doing regular maintenance on my website and reread my words on shaping a new world.
“Tending to new soil asks us to intentionally build new systems with community, equity, and sustainability at their core.
This starts with our own personal and collective growth. Capitalism has given growth a bad name, but not all growth is about extraction and exploitation. We all live and breathe the old rotted roots, which requires us to examine old norms, understand our role and unconscious limitations, and intentionally support our personal growth.”
As the war hawks circle, it is a good reminder for us to remember where our ultimate vision lies and what our role is to get there.
I hope anyone reading this who has been feeling heavy this week tends to themselves and finds space to feel. 🌍 ❤️
Healthy (Social) Media Practices During Conflict
There is so much noise on the internet right now, but not a lot of practical help. So here is my attempt to tip the scales just a little. I wanted to offer a few reflections about staying resilient on social media as a person with a heart. Here are 8 tips on how I stay sane during this rollercoaster 🎢 ride of an election.
Sam Chavez
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🎙 The Joy of Talking Politics with Strangers
I was so happy to have my friend and voter outreach extraordinary, Elizabeth Chur, on the podcast to talk about her latest book that's just in time for the election. 'The Joy of Talking Politics with Strangers: How to Save Democracy, One Conversation at a Time' is practical and beautifully written book to help folks use the power of conversation to create lasting change.
- Getting the courage to talk to voters and understanding their perspective
- Practical skills and managing volunteer burnout
- Reflecting on open-ended questions and conversations that move votes
- A real life example of a voter conversations using motivational interviewing
If you want to brush up on your motivational interview skills, you can check out our one-sheeter Motivational Interviewing guide.
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Sam Chavez
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Boost Website Visits with New YouTube Goal
In a move that's unusual in modern social media, YouTube Studios has introduced website visits as a new goal for promotional ads. Now creators can prioritize website traffic while also growing their channel's audience and video views. Most social sites don't encourage external website visits, because they make their money on selling ads on their platform. It's an encouraging sign to see that YouTube understands creators want this flexibility.
- There are now three options for goals when you go to setup video promotions in YouTube Studios
- You can now select between: audience growth, videos views, or website visits
- For communicators, video is often used to grow awareness of your organization or issue. This new feature helps bridge strategies to move engaged people from awareness into an ally
- Speaking of user journey, we just released our latest training on this topic! Learn how to shape your user journey strategy to reach our goals and build deeper connections.
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- 📚 California Sues ExxonMobil Over Plastics Lie - California Attorney General Rob Bonta is going after the corporation for orchestrating lies that plastics can be recycled. Bonta says they engaged “in a decades-long campaign of deception that caused and exacerbated the global plastics pollution crisis.”
- 🤓 The Root 🌱 - This is a huge win and a big step towards reducing the plastic crisis that is actually the fossil fuels crisis. If you didn’t catch our series on plastics, it’s never too late to learn and be a better climate advocate.
- 📚 Apple Caught Donating to IDF - It was revealed by The Intercept that Apple was matching donations to the IDF and organizations linked to the assault on Gaza and now Lebanon. A letter from employees calls on the company to “promptly investigate and cease matching donations to all organizations that further illegal settlements in occupied territories and support the IDF.” (Source: The Intercept)
- 🤓 The Root 🌱 - Tech staffers have been organizing against Big Tech’s cozy relationship with the right-wing government in Israel for years. Israel is well known for its surveillance technology. Despite the bravado, the divestment efforts are working.
- 🎬 Anti-Choice Messaging Strategy to Blame Democrats - Abortion Everyday journalist, Jessica Valenti, is tracking all of the anti-choice movement’s insidious efforts to lie about abortion in the election. The latest tactic comes from the largest national anti-choice organization, Susan B Anthony Pro Life America. They are using the names and images of the two women who were killed because of Alabama’s anti-women abortion laws in a half a million dollar advertising campaign to blame Democrats for their deaths.
- 🤓 The Root 🌱 - As Jessica points out, this kind of strategy has been carefully planned and they know exactly what they are doing to sow doubt into voters minds. They will lie and use disinformation to win, because they know they can’t with their true stance. This is a great time to use your relational organizing skills!
- 📚 Voters Support Court Reform - In news that shouldn't shock, two-thirds of Americans support Supreme Court reform including putting term limits for justices, according to a new poll from Penn.
- 🤓 The Root 🌱 - Polls consistently show that the majority of people in the U.S. want more progressive policies and for government to reign in the corruption and telling people what to do with their bodies! Court reform is popular and it's a position that we can demand more elected officials vocally take. Political will can move our government if we demand more together. We've seen how that can work with small wins like a new Democratic nominee.
And that's a wrap on this week’s newsletter! We hope you found this helpful in your work to cultivate lasting social change. Forward this to a friend and help democratize communications!
If you have any topics you want covered or have any questions, please reach out and let me know.
In Solidarity,
Sam Chavez
Roots of Change Founder
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