Bereft /bɪˈreft/
Cambridge Dictionary
adjective: not having something or feeling great loss
This is an attempt (no doubt flawed) to express a personal response to what is happening in Gaza.
It is a late night free write and recording (with hardly any editing and a voice full of cold), as I felt the need to respond.
The word ‘bereft‘ was the only one initially coming to mind.
As I said at the beginning, it is no doubt flawed and I’ve sat with it a bit prior to posting. It’s my current attempt to
While weighing up my words and this post, a quote shared on social media at the height of the global response to the killing of George Floyd (May 2020), came to mind:
Resistance is NOT a one-lane highway. Maybe your lane is protesting, maybe your lane is organizing, maybe your lane is counseling, maybe your lane is art activism, maybe your lane is surviving the day.
Do NOT feel guilty for not occupying every lane. We need all of them.
@Lindss_tastic
I think it came back to mind because I imagine there are others (like me), who have wrestled with how much they feel able to engage or comment.
I think it also came to mind as I don’t want the last line of the piece,
our voices must join the conversation.
to be heard as an indictment. It’s not
We all have something we can do, and we each have permission to figure out what and in what way that is. There is also lots that can be happening outside rhe realm and gaze of social media.
Blessings & Love
Some links that you might find useful:
- Email your MP: To support the motion to protect civilians in Gaza & Israel | Demand a Ceasefire Letter Template
- Motaz Azaiza – Photo journalist on the ground in Gaza
- Palestine: Silence is not an option – Femi Oluwole “is a political expert in the U.K. who has a professional background in human rights abuses. He helps untangle some of this mess, in an accessible way.” ~Nova Reid
- Israel/Palestine and Trauma – a conversation with Gabor Maté from May 2021, which is understandably being reposted.
- Small Doses Refill: Side Effects of Palestine – Amanda Seales with Nada Mays: a first generation Afro-Palestinian American descendant of Palestinian refugees