A world in whiplash
Our timelines are trauma tsunamis.
This week, I helped a friend soundboard how to get his wife and kids out of Lebanon (shocker: it was not hard to be more helpful than this State Department). Today, the National Guard parked itself on my street for the second time in six months (and the Supreme Court just ruled that is cool for now). Last week, on the way to the airport my Uber driver and I got stopped at an ICE checkpoint (we are fine, thankfully). At an Eid celebration two weeks ago, I finally saw a friend I have not seen since March after ICE agents showed up at one of our community iftars. We’re all still here. Miraculously. Marvelously.
I’m home (finally) after wrapping up an intense sprint of work travel that had me popping in and out of town, entering and leaving cities all experiencing some level of chaos. The state of the world reminds me of the most useful piece of advice I got from one of my brain injury doctors on concussions, whiplash and vertigo.
“When everything around you is spinning,” he said gesturing to the room we were in. “It’s important to do your best not to spin up here too,” pointing to my head. Do not ruminate. "Lock in and focus on something outside of yourself. That will get you moving forward again."
When the world is in whiplash, how do you focus? Over the next few newsletters, I’m going to share how I’ve put his advice into practice in this context. Where is your spot?
This week I'm sharing one place I am focusing my spot:
LA Street Vendor Solidarity Fund powered by Boyle Heights-based Community Power Collective.
Where are you focusing yours?
Happy Solstice,
Sabrina
Read + Listen
- When the Government Ignores the Court– Behind The Headlines With Andrew Weissmann, Vol. 4.2.
- What Public Health Really Means – Black Women's Health Imperative
- How opponents on the left are banding together to try to stop Andrew Cuomo in New York City – NBC News
Recall
- Reminder: Luck and Liberation. It takes moments of need to shake awake: we need each other. Survival should not be a factor of luck.
Upcoming
My team at work is producing the next RxT forum with Regina Mahone, Senior Editor at The Nation and co-author of Liberating Abortion: Claiming Our History, Sharing Our Stories, and Building the Reproductive Future We Deserve. You can sign-up to join from anywhere here and if you’d like to get involved IRL, we’ll be announcing the next Abortion + Tech Action Labs with our partners in Michigan, Ohio and Mississippi.
Sabrina Hersi Issa is a human rights technologist. She is committed to leveraging innovation as a tool to unlock opportunity and dignity for all. She does this through her work in technology, media and philanthropy. This is her personal newsletter.