Are you a parent, caregiver, or educator who wants to help children become brave justice seekers? Subscribe for practical tips, children's book recommendations, and resources for antiracist families and classrooms.
Children in Gaza still need us
|
Hi Reader, The first person to tell me that the ceasefire agreement in Gaza was actually going to be signed was Ameera. (If you're new to my email list, our community has been supporting Ameera, her husband, and her three children for the past year as conditions in Gaza became increasingly horrific.) Just a week before, Ameera and her husband were trying to decide if it was too late to flee Gaza City. Every time I messaged her I was worried there might only be silence on the other end. I'm cautiously hopeful that the ceasefire will allow Ameera's family, and all families in Gaza, respite from violence. During January's ceasefire, as some aid was allowed in, food prices began to go down. I'm hopeful that Ameera will be able to buy more with the donations she receives, and that malnutrition will no longer be her family's daily reality. But I'm also aware of all that she has lost and how impossibly big a task it is for her family to begin again. Their home was completely destroyed during the war. They've had to flee repeatedly and lost so many of their posessions. Winter weather will soon be here, and Gaza's infrastructure in large part no longer exists. As a Coffees for Gaza volunteer (CFG is the small but might mutual aid group that I met Ameera through), I worry that the headlines might fade and people could forget our families. I worry that the world, especially the U.S. who gave Israel $21 billion in military aid for this war, will ignore the moral imperative to justly rebuild Gaza. Peace without justice is not peace. The absence of overt violence, by itself, it not peace. Those are huge concerns that are outside of my control. So I'm reminding myself of what I CAN do. 1) I can keep up the pressure on elected officials. (If you're not already connected with an activist organization, American Friends Service Committee is my go to resource for advocacy for Palestine). 2) I can continue my knitting fundraiser for Ameera's family. Because this month is Peacetober, I'm donating an additional $10 per item purchased to Ameera's family. (All the profits from knits sales already go to Ameera, so this is an extra bonus!)
3) I can keep up my work with Coffees for Gaza and keep inviting others to join us. Coffees for Gaza is an all-volunteer collective of artists and creatives that encourages micro-donations to 25 families in Gaza. You can sign up for our email newsletter here (written by me, so I think it's a pretty useful resource 😉) or follow us on Instagram here (right now it's full of inspirational Peacetober art.) And if you're a knitter, I'm hosting a knit-along for Coffees for Gaza this Friday. Check out the details or register here. xo, Rebekah Rebekah Gienapp (she/her/hers) | rebekahgienapp.com | Connect on Instagram | Coffees for Gaza | |
Raising antiracist kids
Are you a parent, caregiver, or educator who wants to help children become brave justice seekers? Subscribe for practical tips, children's book recommendations, and resources for antiracist families and classrooms.
Hi Reader, If you're in the U.S., you'll likely heard that starting November 1, families will no longer receive SNAP benefits (also known as food stamps) because of the government shutdown. Roughly 1 in 8 Americans rely on SNAP to help feed their families, and the budget bill Congress passed this summer already included major changes to the program that kicked some families out of the program and that will reduce benefits to others. One of the fundamental tests of our morality as a society is...
Hi Reader, Indigenous Peoples Day is this Monday. November is Native American Heritage Month. We're about the enter the short time of year when non-Native children are most likely to hear things about Indigenous peoples, especially at school. I'm hopeful this time of year that educators, families, and community groups will take advantage of the growing body of resources for respectfully and accurately learning about Indigenous nations in the present day, as well as their histories. But I'm...
Hi Reader, Banned Books Week starts on October 5th and sadly it is more relevant than ever. The huge spike in book challenges and bans that started in 2021 has only continued to rise, with the federal government now joining in this censorship on a massive scale. But that does not mean we are helpless! Even in my conservative home state of Tennessee, the Rutherford County Library Board unanimously voted to put previously banned books back on the shelves in June after public and legal pressure....