As I sit here and reflect on the #MarchForPalestine yesterday, I'm reminded of all the organization and militancy of the movement.
That doesn't just happen overnight.
It takes building and studying.
But it also takes self-sacrifice. To remove oneself from the movement and to stand in solidarity with those different than you for a collective movement.
Not to think about how you're affected, but to what's happening with your fellow worker.
But to see the reactions today towards the #HandsOff marches from yesterday saddens me.
While it is important to critique movements to improve them, there are people who would rather tear them down altogether.
While I believe they didn't go far enough, I still believe that these people can be moved towards bigger causes.
While they may have been rather "tame" or "safe", under a police state that is not actually true. State violence doesn't have to be physical or immediate.
So, while I felt comraderie during my march as I moved with various organizations to stand up in the face of state oppression, the world at large still have some work to do.
Capitalism has put us in a place to keep focusing on the individual as opposed to the collective.
People keep focusing on who's protesting "the right way".
I'm not saying we should have bounce houses for kids.
But criticizing people for taking a step, for some their first step, is weird.
Instead of criticizing, why not welcome them into the fold.
Teach them how to be safe in case things go from bad to worse.
Teach them about bigger issues that they may not know about.
Yes, you've been screaming at the top of your lungs, but capitalism has kept their ears clogged.
And I'm speaking from experience. It took me losing a job to finally read a book and understand how bad it actually was.
Not everyone was able to mobilize in 2003, 2012, 2014, 2020, etc.
Also, why are we even focused on the individual?
Why are we not looking towards the systems that were pushing us in this direction?
It is the system that allowed Donald Trump to exist. To even make him an option.
It is the system that made us forget that labor unions, Socialists, communists, and anarchists fought for our rights in labor, voting, and civil rights along with communities of people.
The system just wants to highlight individuals and not just the collective.
Why is that?
The system forces us to focus on the individual to distract us from the fact we have more in common than we don't.
We can celebrate a hero or tear down a villain if there is a figurehead.
The system put us into neat little boxes so we can point out the failures in others instead of pointing at those in charge.
Again, there is nothing wrong in critiquing, but we do ourselves a disservice by not leading, by not getting involved, by sitting it out because of perceived hurt by another group.
While there are people out there I don't agree with, as long as we move in the same direction, I will continue to work with them.
They may be in the movement for a day, a season, or a lifetime, but there are still working.
It is only when they become an obstacle must they be cast aside.
But until that day comes, may we all match towards collective liberation for us all!