{"id":25853,"date":"2025-09-24T09:44:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T13:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=25853"},"modified":"2025-09-24T10:21:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T14:21:57","slug":"25853","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=25853","title":{"rendered":"Peacemaking Is Not Niceness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"14. Nina Simone  Mississippi Goddamn Lyrics\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Beck1t7j-ZE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>I am not afraid of the word tension. I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is <strong>a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth<\/strong>.<br>\u2014Martin Luther King Jr., \u201cLetter from Birmingham City Jail\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Minister Elle Dowd, an anti-racist white activist, challenges the notion that being a peacemaker means being \u201cnice\u201d:&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We white people love to think of ourselves as nice\u2026.\u202fBut too often, niceness is about convenience. It\u2019s about our comfort. It\u2019s about control. It is our pathological desire for niceness that leads white people to look at young Black people crying out in the street and say,\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cThey should really say #AllLivesMatter.\u201d\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m all for protesting, but do they really have to inconvenience other people?\u201d\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo one is going to listen to them if they are going to be so rude like that.\u201d\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, \u201cWhy can\u2019t they be nice?\u201d\u2026&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We say we value niceness, but this kind of niceness isn\u2019t kindness or compassion or accompaniment or self-sacrifice. <strong>It\u2019s not Christ\u2019s example of emptying ourselves for the sake of the other. It\u2019s the opposite\u2014silencing and oppressing the other for the sake of ourselves.\u202f&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Dowd reflects on the desire to reduce tension instead of learning what it might have to teach:<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason many white people have trouble thinking of nonviolent direct action as truly nonviolent is that <strong>it is disruptive by nature, and that doesn\u2019t feel very nice. It\u2019s not supposed to be nice.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Direct action intentionally interrupts our daily flow and rhythm in an attempt to raise tension. This tension isn\u2019t new. It isn\u2019t being created out of thin air. It has always existed for our siblings of color.\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For people of color and other oppressed people, the tension caused by marginalization is ever present with very real consequences&#8230;. Racism is like being force-fed a poison. Direct action is what happens when people refuse to drink that poison and instead bring a bottle of it to the doorstep of those force-feeding them and demand that they gaze upon the reality of it.\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Direct action doesn\u2019t create&nbsp;<em>new<\/em>&nbsp;tension. <strong>It redistributes the tension&nbsp;<em>that is already there<\/em>&nbsp;and puts it back where it belongs\u2014at the source.\u202f<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people\u2014white people, in particular\u2014have little tolerance for tension. We have been taught to avoid tension. Our conditioning has trained us to recoil from discomfort, to think of it as an inherently bad thing, something to sidestep and evade at all costs. Instead of leaning into tension to see what we can learn from it, we often avoid it. But when we do this, <strong>when we turn away from tension, we fail to see the gift that this tension can be in revealing the truth. We\u202fmiss out on the clarity it brings with it, the opportunity to move forward.\u202f&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>===============<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hey CO few.   (Andrew Lang)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Late last week as the Jimmy Kimmel news crashed across my screen and I was still trying to understand&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/click.convertkit-mail2.com\/n4u0678vkqbvhxv2rp7c6h62x9gggilhe930r\/dpheh0he0g4e86cl\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudmFuaXR5ZmFpci5jb20vbmV3cy9zdG9yeS9jaGFybGllLWtpcmstZXpyYS1rbGVpbi10YW5laGlzaS1jb2F0ZXM=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">who Charlie Kirk really was<\/a>&nbsp;(which is certainly different from the sanitized version even liberal writers are currently eulogizing), I fell into a bit of an emotional pit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My partner and I chatted as she was getting ready to leave for work and I felt that familiar sense of overwhelm form in my gut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>But what can we do to actually stop any of this?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It wasn\u2019t quite despair, but I admit it was the closest I\u2019ve come to it in the past few months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As she walked out the door, I just sat and stared at the wall for awhile reflecting on the week \u2013 specifically the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel and the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/click.convertkit-mail2.com\/n4u0678vkqbvhxv2rp7c6h62x9gggilhe930r\/z2hghnhe3v4epqhz\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYW5kcmV3Z2xhbmcuY29tL3Bhc3Qvd2hlbi1pY2Utc2hvd3MtdXAtZmluZGluZy1zYWZlLWVub3VnaC1hY3Rpb25z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">presence of ICE<\/a>&nbsp;at my workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And eventually, my history degree reared its head as if to say from the bottom drawer where it perpetually lives in darkness:&nbsp;<em>look to what others have done.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So below are five ways people and communities have resisted authoritarianism and mass harm \u2013 not always enough to end the violence or impact, but enough to maintain a sense of dignity and beauty in the midst of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope as you read through the examples below, you consider what \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/click.convertkit-mail2.com\/n4u0678vkqbvhxv2rp7c6h62x9gggilhe930r\/z2hghnhe3v4epqhz\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYW5kcmV3Z2xhbmcuY29tL3Bhc3Qvd2hlbi1pY2Utc2hvd3MtdXAtZmluZGluZy1zYWZlLWVub3VnaC1hY3Rpb25z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">safe enough<\/a>\u201d actions you might take as we continue deeper into this moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>(And a huge shoutout to the folks I met with on Sunday for our Overwhelm to Action event: people committing to work on countering food insecurity, turning out the vote in the upcoming California election, advocating to our WA state government for trans family members, engaging in mutual aid for Hispanic folks not wanting to leave their homes \u2013 it was inspiring!)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Community, Community, Community<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m leading with this one because it is a non-negotiable. Community is the only way we get through this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It can take many shapes and forms, from the loud and action-centered to the quiet and care-centered, but the question I offer is this:&nbsp;<em>who is holding this moment alongside you?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>In Mussolini\u2019s Italy<\/strong>, the activists who lacked networks and communities were neutralized quickly. The \u201cmoderates\u201d who had some power and rank, but were not part of communities talking about the danger of the moment, fell into silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But those who had some kind of community structure \u2013 churches, student groups, labor organizations, underground reading circles \u2013 had the resilience to resist longer. They emboldened each other to embrace hope and to identify the small ways to fight back; they kept the conversation and the tending to grief going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During&nbsp;<strong>the HIV\/AIDS Crisis of the 1980s<\/strong>, and in the face of governmental inaction, ACT UP began to form small, local groups of friends, partners, and neighbors who would come together in living rooms, church basements, and community centers to care for each other and share resources. These communities, absolutely and intentionally being failed by the government, gathered to&nbsp;<em>survive<\/em>, together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Question:<\/strong>&nbsp;Who can you intentionally gather with for the purpose of tending to each other\u2019s needs? (Who might you invite over for dinner to talk with about this?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Protect + Pressure the Press and Academia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Across the board, the first enemies of an authoritarian leader are the free press, universities, and the public school system (if there is one.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I remember in high school reading about book burnings in Weimar Germany \u2013 one of the first acts of the Nazi Party upon taking power. Or of how Pinochet in Chile would order raids on bookstores to terrify storeowners out of business. Or of our own American legacy of McCarthyism and anti-abolitionist book burnings in the South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And yet \u2013 in the midst of each of these examples of censorship, there was resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In&nbsp;<strong>Nazi Germany<\/strong>, the White Rose movement formed, a group of students quietly distributing anti-Nazi leaflets. During&nbsp;<strong>the McCarthy Era<\/strong>&nbsp;here in the United States, alternative publications like&nbsp;<em>Dissent Magazine<\/em>&nbsp;were created to hold space for intellectual debate outside the academic mainstream. In&nbsp;<strong>the Soviet Union<\/strong>, some would hand-copy books and articles \u2013 known as \u201csamizdat\u201d \u2013 so the ideas within them would survive and spread. In&nbsp;<strong>Pinochet\u2019s Chile<\/strong>, multiple churches made the brave decision to shelter intellectuals and written materials, even hosting small discussion circles, under the protective guise of \u201creligious activity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we look around and see academic institutions, media companies, and publishers under pressure from the Trump Administration to fold or self-censor, one move we can make is to do our best to apply&nbsp;<em>counter-pressure<\/em>: demand our representatives protect academic institutions, boycott and divest from media companies that submit to Trump\u2019s demands, and amplify and fund local journalists and creators who are pushing back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Question<\/strong>: How can you apply counter-pressure by contacting representatives, writing letters to the editor, boycotting companies like Meta, Disney, and Target who give in, and\/or amplify journalists and creators doing resistance work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Small Acts of Refusal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>These are the acts of everyday resistance, often silent and in the shadows, but present and powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In&nbsp;<strong>China<\/strong>, where public resistance has a long history of suppression, there is an equally long tradition of silent protests (wearing symbols on clothing, etc.), family-led education to counter state-run curriculum, and \u201cnod-and-deny\u201d tactics, where people fall in line publicly and work behind the scenes to resist. In&nbsp;<strong>Nazi Germany,<\/strong>&nbsp;this was true as well: resistance could look like refusing to parrot party slogans or finding ways to quietly support underground resistance networks. Enslaved people in the&nbsp;<strong>United States<\/strong>&nbsp;would engage in everyday resistance by slowing down work, feigning sickness when safe-enough to do so, or \u201caccidentally\u201d damaging crops or farm tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we consider what is ours to do to resist authoritarianism, it is worth repeating again and again and again:&nbsp;<em>no action is too small.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each of these small acts of refusal and resistance and counter-pressure can preserve our sense of dignity and purpose until larger movements take shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Question:<\/strong>&nbsp;What are the small ways, perhaps even silent or invisible, you can refuse to accept the Trump Administration\u2019s use of power and story?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Create Pockets of Democracy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Democracy is always a threat to those who desire to wield power over others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s why every year, voter suppression bills are lobbied for and passed at all levels of legislature. (79 restrictive voting laws&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/click.convertkit-mail2.com\/n4u0678vkqbvhxv2rp7c6h62x9gggilhe930r\/x0hph6hew6re94ig\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYnJlbm5hbmNlbnRlci5vcmcvb3VyLXdvcmsvcmVzZWFyY2gtcmVwb3J0cy92b3RpbmctbGF3cy1yb3VuZHVwLTIwMjQtcmV2aWV3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">have been passed<\/a>&nbsp;in the last four years in the United States.) That\u2019s why poll taxes and literacy tests were used to exclude Black folks from voting in the&nbsp;<strong>Jim Crow South<\/strong>. That\u2019s why Putin in&nbsp;<strong>Russia<\/strong>&nbsp;has jailed and killed his opponents and Orb\u00e1n in&nbsp;<strong>Hungary<\/strong>&nbsp;has stacked the courts and re-written the constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And this is why one of the ways we can resist fascism is by ensuring democracy \u2013 and the cultural norms and ideals that support it \u2013 continues to exist at all levels of public engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the Jim Crow South, registering to vote, teaching people to read, and joining organizations like the NAACP could be extremely dangerous as they were radical threats to the anti-democratic system of White Supremacy \u2013 and yet, people engaged in these everyday. In&nbsp;<strong>South Africa<\/strong>, folks educated each other, literally door-to-door, to make sure neighbors knew and bought into the cultural ideals that would uphold democracy following the transition from Apartheid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With only&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/click.convertkit-mail2.com\/n4u0678vkqbvhxv2rp7c6h62x9gggilhe930r\/6qheh8hl7gkln4t9\/aHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzLmdhbGx1cC5jb20vcG9sbC82NTUyMjAvc2F0aXNmYWN0aW9uLWRlbW9jcmFjeS1lZGdlcy1yZWNvcmQtbG93LmFzcHg=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">34% of Americans currently satisfied with democracy<\/a>, we can do similar today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Attending city council meetings, showing up at school boards, practicing democratic processes in our non-profits and organizations, going door-to-door to talk with our neighbors about local issues \u2013 all of these feel small and yet create cultural and institutional resilience to survive the sway of authoritarianism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Question:<\/strong>&nbsp;How can you can help strengthen democracy \u2013 and democratic norms and ideas \u2013 in the spaces you already belong to? (Your neighborhood, workplace, or community groups, etc.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Sustain Hope Through Care<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Just as Mariame Kaba says, \u201chope is a discipline,\u201d the work of sustaining hope is not about anything fluffy or sentimental \u2014 it is deeply practical, rooted, and embodied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout history, basic everyday care has been shown to be&nbsp;<em>radical.<\/em>Whether creating a community garden, making music, ensuring continuing friendship \u2013 all of these acts serve as a counterweight to despair and overwhelm, giving up and giving in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the&nbsp;<strong>Nazis<\/strong>&nbsp;spread across Europe and took over in places like Denmark, Norway, and France, people organized underground poetry readings, musical performances, and religious gatherings. Or in&nbsp;<strong>Japanese-American Internment Camps<\/strong>&nbsp;during WWII, families planted gardens and published community newspapers. The&nbsp;<strong>Black Panther Party&nbsp;<\/strong><em>was founded with a mission of care<\/em>: to support Black folks with self-defense training and eventually breakfast programs, health clinics, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of these examples sustained hope \u2013 all of them centered the community and insisted in the primacy of dignity, beauty, and human value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, we can see this work in mutual aid networks and in communities that focus on building a culture of resilience and care amongst themselves. Through their actions, these spaces build the community strength needed to resist authoritarianism and weave connection amongst people so that nobody has to feel isolated and alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Question:<\/strong>&nbsp;What can you do this week to show care (a meal, a phone call, a garden, a story) in a way that builds resilience against despair?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am not afraid of the word tension. I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth.\u2014Martin Luther King Jr., \u201cLetter from Birmingham City Jail\u201d&nbsp; Minister Elle Dowd, an anti-racist white activist, challenges the notion that being a peacemaker means being [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25853"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25853"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25858,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25853\/revisions\/25858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}