Dear Z Community,

Things are HAPPENING! (Check out our resource list at the bottom of this message.)

Unions have been kicking some major boss-butt up and down the South, including a historic victory for Volkswagen employees in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Today, climate activists in NYC have shut down the entrance to Citibank, demanding they stop their funding of fossil fuels. Climate litigation landmarks have come through from South Korea to Switzerland. The vision that young people, led by Sunrise Movement, organized tirelessly for became a reality – the American Climate Corps has launched and applications are now live. The program will pay 20,000 young people to better our communities on the path to stop the climate crisis. 

Fifty years after the student anti-war movement of the 1960s, campus uprisings are igniting across the US  and internationally in the form of Gaza solidarity encampments. Thousands upon thousands of diverse students, faculty, academic workers, and allies are holding space firmly in love and peace – unphased by threats of state violence, arrest and expulsion, and mainstream media vitriol. The increased repression has only intensified resolve and increased numbers.

Thousands upon thousands of Jews held public “emergency seders” and other actions proclaiming their solidarity with Palestinian Liberation and rejecting continued attempts to weaponize trauma and antisemitism. Even as they were being arrested, participants repeated their mantras “Never again for anyone”, “Palestine is everywhere”, and “Not in our name”.

Contrary to mainstream media and official propaganda that has described this movement as “extremist mobs”, one only has to look at the diversity of the crowds, the cross cultural singing and dancing, and the commitment to nonviolence at these protests to know this is not a movement of hate.

The problem is that we live in a world where so many people are extremely siloed, both online and in real life, so that propaganda, even such ridiculously brazen filth, is a force we must contend with. Following the example of brave voices from Gaza who have shared the truth daily via social media while genocide is rained down upon them, unleashing a generational tidal wave of change in how the world sees this struggle, brave protesters around the world are broadcasting their resistance live. 

We need to help ensure that everyone has access to reality by sharing this footage and by supporting independent media that dares to do real journalism and to platform real stories. Only this access will allow each of us to discover what is required of us by our own humanity in the face of the truth. We desperately need to talk to each other.

The momentum of this moment is underlined by the increasing urgency of the brutal darkness in our midst and on our horizons. Mainstream news bleats out “Fear change! Fear the other! Fear the mob!” yet is silent on mass graves. Genocide rips through Gaza, Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Authoritarianism is on the rise and sucking political prisoners into its maw from the US, to Russia, to Ecuador. Our planet is being torched for profit. 

Palestinians have had enough. The Global South has had enough. The youth have had enough. Workers have had enough. Activists from all walks of life Have. Had. Enough. Dear reader, we hear you when you say that YOU HAVE HAD ENOUGH. 

We are the global majority and we recognize ourselves in each other’s struggles. We can see the cracks up and down the length and breadth of this rotten system we have inherited, and through them, we can also glimpse the glow of alternatives. If we are ever to bask in that glow and spend the rest of our lives living, now is the time to mobilize.

We hope that Z can be a resource for this incredible community of people committed to social change, whether you are in the thick of it or looking to get more involved. We also aim to be a place for collective deliberation and reflection throughout the heady weeks ahead – keeping vision and strategy central to struggle.

We join all who stand in solidarity against genocide, oppression, and repression. We stand for justice, self-determination, peace, and a better future for all. The youth and allies at the campus uprisings ARE this better future. We are with you!

In Solidarity,
The ZStaff

PS We would like to highlight this personal message full of inspiration from labor hero, Jane McAlevey, on her decision to begin home-based hospice. Not only do we wish to express our gratitude to Jane as a teacher, worker, and organizer and to wish her all the love and strength she has shared with so many over the years, but also to share her message with you all in this moment. Let us fearlessly take care of each other, finding strength and joy in our struggle as we embody change. There is no better example of how to live.

Resource List:

• Visit our focus section on Palestine which aggregates all the best content from Z and around the web
• Z Community Forum hosts a Palestine Solidarity channel
• Follow Z on Twitter for regular updates from activists on the ground and for content highlights
• Use this form to automatically send an email to 16 universities with your statement of support for the student protesters for peace.
• “An Asterisk”: a poem for Gaza & for humanity, by a ZCommunity member
• ZFriend, Ramzy Baroud, has a message from Gaza for US students
• ZFriend, Medea Benjamin, on the Gaza Flotilla and how you can help
• ZFriends, Michael Albert and Steve Early, on campus uprisings during the 60s and now
• ZStaff and New School student, Cooper Sperling, live at the encampment
• Unions in solidarity with campus uprisings
• Popular University for Gaza Telegram channel: updates, dispatches, & press releases from different encampments and Popular University movements

Even if you think you live in a solidarity-desert far from any action, DO NOT GIVE UP! Do a google search, reach out to local organizations to ask about their work, contact orgs you admire to ask if they have contacts or recommendations closer to you, talk to the people around you, and please join the Z Community Forum where there are people around the world who want to engage and help you activate. See you there. See you in the streets.

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